In the pre-dawn hours of January 3rd 2026, US special forces executed an audacious raid on Venezuelan military installations, capturing President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and whisking them aboard the USS Iwo Jima for trial in New York on narcotics-terrorism charges. This swift operation, detailed in President Trump’s subsequent press conference, was no mere act of retribution against a narco-state regime. It marked the bold application of what the administration calls the “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine, a policy pivot outlined in the November 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS).

Trump’s removal and capture of Nicolás Maduro and the de facto US takeover of Venezuela’s oil future mark a decisive reordering of the global petroleum chessboard, tilting power toward non‑OPEC producers in the Americas and sharply curbing the room China and Russia once had to use Venezuela as a strategic beachhead in the Western Hemisphere. This is not only a regime change; it is an energy‑security doctrine in action, with the Monroe Doctrine now explicitly applied to pipelines, refineries and heavy‑oil upgraders as much as to naval squadrons and missile bases.​